In Pace Christi

“My choice would be to join the Comboni group of the ABC in São Paulo. Otherwise, I would accept the invitation to move to the Province of Northern Brazil, going to São Luís, in the state of Maranhão, my homeland.” This is the response that Father Florêncio sent to the provincial of North East Brazil, Father Franco Masserdotti, in February 1987. Father Franco’s invitation was motivated by the possibility “that Florêncio would returns to his own territory and by the certainty that his preparation and experience would be very precious for contributing to particularly demanding jobs such as that in the immense outskirts of São Luís, entrusted to the Comboni Missionaries, and helping the popular movements and communities of Pará-Maranhão.”

After his first vows, made on 11^th August 1974 in São José do Rio Preto (SP), and his perpetual vows, on 17^th December 1977 in Rome, Florêncio was ordained a priest on 19 February 1978. Since then, he sought to ‘deepen’ his priestly choice.

In June 1984 he asked the provincial council for a year of ‘absence from the community’, to “experiment with pastoral work and study, in a favourable situation for a more in-depth reflection on my life as a Comboni priest. To this end, I intend to take a parish in the episcopal region of Itapecerica da Serra (SP).”

In 1985, the parishioners of Santo Antônio de Vila Iasi, in São Paulo, with a signed community appeal, asked the provincial superior of the Comboni Missionaries to allow Father Florêncio to remain in the parish a little longer, “to develop a broad pastoral care, as deputy parish priest, having made a clear ‘preferential option for the poor’.”

Starting in 1990, he was absent from the Comboni Institute for 28 years, due to exclaustration, without exercising his priestly ministry. He taught at public universities and defended his doctoral thesis in Linguistic Studies at the Federal University of Minas Gerais. Having already retired in 2012, he worked for three years as a volunteer in a public cardiac hospital, with the task of welcoming poor patients from different parts of Brazil. He taught Philosophy at the Faculty of Law and Ethics and the Philosophy of Language at the Interdiocesan Seminary of Palmas, in Tocantins.

“Throughout those years – Father Florêncio wrote – I have gone through more or less difficult periods, especially of loneliness, isolation and serious illnesses. I have maintained a constant search for support in personal prayer, in biblical reading and meditation, even if not always regularly, as well as in participation in the Eucharist. The arrival of Pope Francis at the head of the Church, with his words, gestures and attitudes, which always underline inclusion and mercy, strengthened my personal decision to turn to the General Administration of the Institute and ask, if possible, for my reintegration into the community, to return to a religious, missionary and community life, which I have missed so much.” When asked about his willingness to return to the community and exercise the priestly ministry, Father Florêncio responded to the members of the General Direction with “sincere and sound reasons”. He could, therefore, be admitted to the Institute again and, in July 2017, his reintegration into the Comboni community began.

The first stop on this itinerary was a community in the Province of Brazil. He also spent a period of reflection in Rome. He then went to the Provincial House, in São Paulo, for his first experience of community life, contributing to the service of the Santuario da Cruz e Reconciliação and to the various pastoral needs of the area.

Father Florêncio was respected for his humility and dedication, his friendly spirit and his willingness to go to missions to Africa. In 2018, in fact, he went to Chad. In 2019, however, he had to return to Brazil due to new health problems.

In São Paulo he collaborated in the pastoral care of the Sapopemba region and had the role of bursar at the Comboni Theological Seminary.

In August 2022, Father Florêncio suffered a serious stroke. After three months spent in the São Paulo hospital, he was transferred to São José do Rio Preto (SP), to the Comboni House, for elderly and sick Comboni Missionaries. He was slowly recovering and his health was improving when pneumonia and kidney problems led him to be admitted to the Santa Casa de Misericórdia hospital, where, on 20^th March 2024, his earthly life ended. (Father Enzo Santangelo, mccj)